Women Forest Landowners:

Sharing a Connection to the Land Amanda Subjin

Stewardship & Education Coordinator, Delaware Highlands Conservancy

Throughout our region, women are increasingly responsible for the care and stewardship of

private forestlands. Faced with the need to make decisions about their lands, these women

are seeking information on how to care for and manage their forests. Many find that being

involved in a woodland owner network or otherwise linked to professional resources

provides necessary information regarding options available for their property. Others aren’t

sure where to start in seeking out resources to care for their forestland. A

desire to be more connected and learn with and

from other women in similar land management

roles has led a group of women forest

landowners in northeast Pennsylvania to form

Women and their Woods.

In 2008, with the support of the Delaware

Highlands Conservancy, a land trust working in

northeast PA, and the US Forest Service at

Grey Towers, a group of women landowners

met to learn more about the forests they own

and how to connect with other women forest

landowners. The response was overwhelming, and, since then, the Conservancy has continued to coordinate meetings for women forest landowners in northeast PA and the

surrounding area. Topics for meetings have included setting goals and objectives for your

forestland, identification and control methods of invasive plants, creating trails on private

forestland, and a tour of an award winning tree farm. During each meeting, women gather,

share information, ask questions, meet professionals, and enjoy a hearty potluck lunch.

Everyone walks away from the event with more confidence and ideas on how to better care

for their land. In addition to providing information, the Women and their Woods program

Women and their Woods

...Continued on page 3

Information for Women Forest Landowners in Pennsylvania

Issue 1, Spring 2011

The Women and their

Woods program is

administered by Penn State

Forest Resources Extension

and the Delaware Highlands

Conservancy with support

from the Pennsylvania

Forest Stewardship

Program, US Forest Service

at Grey Towers and PA

DCNR Department of

Conservation and

Recreation.

For additional information,

please contact:

Allyson Muth

Penn State Natural

Resources Extension

(814) 865-3208

abm173@psu.edu

Amanda Subjin

Delaware Highlands

Conservancy

570-226-3164

conserve

@delawarehighlands.org

This publication

is also

available

electronically.

Women and their Woods

We need your Email Address!

Like so many other conservation minded organizations, we

are hoping to conserve

resources by communicating with you through e-mail.

Please send your email to conserve@delawarehighlands.org

and specify if you would like to receive our mailings

electronically or continue to receive hard copies in the mail.

2

Throughout our region, women are

increasingly responsible for the care and

stewardship of private forestlands. Faced

with the need to make decisions for their

lands, these women should be

knowledgeable about options available for

their property.

In addition to providing information about

their options, the Women and their Woods

program seeks to instill a sense of

stewardship and knowledge about the value

of intact forest land.

We hope you find the information in this

newsletter helpful for managing your

forestland and that you will join us at the

upcoming Women Forest Landowner Retreat

(see page 6 for details).

seeks to instill a sense of stewardship and knowledge about the value of intact forest land.

Women and their Woods is not a new concept. Women landowner groups across the

country are becoming more and more active, including the Women Owning Woodlands

Network in Oregon and the Women’s Woodland Network in Minnesota. There is even an

effort to produce a women forest land-

owners’ network on the national level.

The increasing interest in these women’s

groups has led the Conservancy, with the

financial support of the PA DCNR’s Bureau

of Recreation and Conservation, to

partner with Penn State Natural Resources

Extension to offer outreach and education to women forest landowners across the

state of Pennsylvania in 2011, including

informative newsletters like this one

throughout the year and emails with

updates on events and cost share incentive

programs. In addition to the Women and

their Woods programs typically offered

throughout the year, there will be a long

weekend educational retreat for women

forest landowners from October 13-16

(more info about the retreat on page 6).

Post retreat, attendees will be encouraged

to share their knowledge about the

Women and their Woods program in their own community with the goal of forming regional

groups - similar the northeast PA group -across the state. Through ongoing trainings and

meetings, these groups will continue to receive the support of Penn State Natural Re-

sources Extension and the Conservancy.

If you are interested in being involved with planning for the Women and their Woods group

or have ideas or stories of your own to share about being a forest land owner, please

contact Amanda Subjin by phone (570-226-3164) or email

conserve@delawarehighlands.org.

Join women forest landowners at Camp Susque October 13-16, 2011 for a

weekend educational retreat. See facing page for more information. 3

Purpose of the Women and their

Woods group:

1) Recognize the growing role of

women forestland managers

2) Empower women by raising their

basic forestry and decision-making skill

levels through hands-on, fun

educational opportunities

3) Encourage communication among

women forestland managers through

the development of statewide and

local networks.

...Continued from page 1

4

Attaching Your Child to Your Land Nancy G.W. Baker, PA Forest Steward, Bradford County

I remember with great fondness that you can draw with

some of the stones in our creek, rubbing the wet red

pebbles and the gray-green stones on the large flat

rocks. The drawings are ephemeral; they either bake

to a powder in the sun or wash downstream in the

rain. My attachment to the stream, however, seems

permanent. And the land too, under the fireflies and the

spiderwebs, the pilot snakes and pines, the darn deer

and the bugs, is under my skin.

Richard Louv, author of the best seller Last Child in the

Woods, writes, “When people talk about the

disconnect between children and nature—if they are

old enough to remember a time when outdoor play was the norm—they almost always tell

stories about their own childhoods: this tree house or fort, that special woods or ditch or

creek or meadow. They recall those ‘places of initiation,’ in the words of naturalist Robert

Michael Pyle, where they may have first sensed with awe and wonder the largeness of the

world, seen and unseen.”

Reader, it’s likely you have children, perhaps grandchildren, and it’s probable that you own

forest land too. If you wish your offspring to have some attachment to that land, if you expect them to care for it as you do when you turn it over to them, begin now!

Think of this: I have a cousin. He has forested land and family. The family lives in Ohio; he has

a Pennsylvania Forest Stewardship Plan. The plan, designed by a consulting forester with the

assistance of the West Virginia Office of the Nature Conservancy, has as an objective the

attachment of his grandchildren to this particular piece of Pennsylvania land. An entire

section of the Forest Stewardship Plan has activities for six children, now aged 3 to 13; the

explanations are detailed, and there’s an appendix to help mom and pop along.

For example: (the condensed version!)

Draw a map; give names to all the places you identify.

Print an aerial photo of your land (magnify it, perhaps you’ll need to tape it together),

mount it on cardstock, cut out each field, forest block, house, barn or habitat to make

the puzzle pieces.

Go on a scavenger hunt: Assign scavenger lists that require a child to think creatively or

The author and her cousin

drawing on the rocks in the creek.

5

to look very closely (e.g., A chewed leaf (not by you!), something that makes a noise,

exactly 100 of something).

Call in predators: buy a predator call at a sporting goods store and use it to draw in animals for a closer look.

Watch a thunderstorm move across the landscape;

learn to know the clouds.

Create a wild garden: Identify, map, and label the

plants so friends can see and learn about the natural

diversity of flowers and other plants growing in your

woods.

Build a bird box, mount it in the correct habitat, and

monitor the occupants.

Identify animal and bird tracks by taking photos in

mud or snow; see if you can follow their trails.

Keep a journal with notes, pictures, drawings and

found objects.

Sleep outside (remember the bear spray).

What’s happened in the years since the plan was

created? There’s a much loved children’s map with the

Fairy Forest and the Super Hill of Doom. There’s a

secret fort. There are piles of sleeping bags and a

telescope for watching the stars. There’s a little girl who

wanted to know what all the different caterpillars were one summer. New collections of stones sit among old

collections of moths; the sand mound is seeded with

wildflower mix; and it once took a whole weekend to

hang up the tire swing on the highest branch. Everyone

brings their friends and shares their fun in the woods

and fields.

Begin now. Introduce your next generation to your woods; you can make it their “place of

initiation.” A 3-year-old can identify a cedar tree and a maple—even if she can't tell you what

color pants she's wearing. And a 4-year-old can tell the difference between squirrel and rabbit

tracks—even if he can't yet read any of the writing on a map. Young children learn through

the sounds, scents, and seasons of the outdoors.* You will find a wonderful beginning

resource guide to introducing your child to your outdoors at http://richardlouv.com/children-

nature-resources. And if you are attached to your piece of land, share and teach your

attachment to those future owners. *Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, April 2006

The Children’s Map by Amanda

Layman. Copies of this map

are laminated and used as place-

mats for all the cousins’ and

friends’ meals at the farm.

How Becoming a Forest Landowner Changed My Life Linda L. Finley

I am privileged and proud to be a forest landowner in Pennsylvania; however, I can honestly

say that owning forestland was not on my to-do list.

Growing up in rural York County, with farming grandparents, I was always exposed to the

beauty of forest and streams. My father, grandfathers, and uncles all hunted and fished. Most

of my summer vacations involved a trip to the mountains or a state park as well as walks and

time in the woods near our home.

When I married, my husband also enjoyed the outdoors. At some point, he decided it would

be nice to have our own mountain property. Then, in 1983 following his annual deer camp

trip, he announced the camp was for sale and

it was a tremendous opportunity “we should

not pass up.” Sight unseen, I agreed.

We found out very quickly what owning forest

land really involves; we had no clue! Simply

put, we thought all trees were good, anything

green was good, and Mother Nature would

take care of everything. What or why would

we need to do anything? Of course we knew

trees had monetary value, and our woods

were mix of hardwoods and conifers –

nothing real valuable, as far as we knew. We

were just enjoying our trees.

Within weeks, we were approached about

cutting our trees. We said no thank you. However, after a year of pressure and lots of

reasons why we should cut, we reluctantly agreed. The logger and his crew were on the

property about a week. We realized our decision was a big mistake and we needed help!

Where did we go for help? How did we educate ourselves? We discovered the Pennsylvania

Forestry Association, and the journey began. As PFA members, we learned about the PA

Bureau of Forestry Service Foresters and Penn State Cooperative Extension. Through PFA

we obtained a list of consulting foresters and hired a good one. We joined the PA Tree Farm

Program and the National Woodland Owners Association. We attended every meeting

possible, and each time gained useful information and a better understanding of forests.

About six years after we bought our forestland my husband passed away. I found myself with

a property I had grown to love – a special place we 3 6 ...Continued on back page

7

Women Forest Landowner Educational Retreat October 13-16, 2011

Mark your calendars! Women forest landowners from across the state of Pennsylvania are invited to attend an educational retreat to learn more about managing their forestland and connecting with other forest landowners.

The retreat will be held at Camp Susque near the scenic town of Trout Run, Lycoming County, PA.

Formal invitations will be sent in a few weeks. Lodging will be at the camp which also offers dining facilities for our breakfast, lunch and dinner throughout the weekend. Here is a peek at the agenda:

Thursday, October 13: Dinner, welcome and evening activities.

Friday, October 14: A full day of forest landowner education including forest stewardship, tree identification and forest ecology. We will also visit timber harvest sites nearby.

Saturday, October 15: Programs on valuing your woods, forest hydrology and wildlife.

Sunday, October 16: Stories from Oregon - Information from the Women Owning Woodlands network and how to continue the Women and their Woods educational group here in Pennsylvania.

More details in the next newsletter. See you at the retreat!

Women and their Woods Newsletter

Non-Profit Org. Hawley, PA

U.S. Postage PAID

Permit No. 42

serving New York and Pennsylvania

P.O. Box 218 Hawley, PA 18428-0218

DELAWARE HIGHLANDS CONSERVANCY

Introduction

Women Forest Landowner Retreat Details

“How Becoming a Forest Landowner

Changed My Life”

Attaching Your Child to Your Land INS

IDE

“How Becoming a Forest Landowner Changed My Life”, continued from page 6...

had shared with family and friends. I wanted to hold onto “our” woods. As well, I greatly

enjoyed the friends we had met through the forestry community. I knew people who shared

my concerns about forests and stewardship values. My primary concern was to keep the

property.

Several years before my husband passed away, he was elected to the PFA Board of Directors

and I reluctantly agreed to finish his term. That decision took me further down the forestry

trail. I was elected PFA Vice President and then became the first woman PFA President in

1996 thru 1998 and again in 2006 thru 2009. I have served as a PA Hardwood Development

Council representative, on the State Forest Stewardship Committee, the PA Tree Farm

Committee, and am a PA Forest Steward Volunteer. I continue to work with PFA and am a

member of two county woodland associations.

Along my Forestry Trail Journey, I met Jim Finley, Extension Forester for Penn State. In 1998,

we married and I became a forester’s wife. My education continues, and I find endless joy in

meeting other forest landowners. My trail has wandered, but I have gotten past pot holes and maneuvered detours, at times with some difficulties. I find Pennsylvania’s forests tree-

mendous!